SALT LAKE CITY (May 26, 2021) — The Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget (GOPB) released a remote work guide to inform executive branch agency efforts to maintain benefits of remote work as many employees return to their assigned offices.

Utah led the nation in implementing a remote work pilot program in the spring of 2019. Successes include improved air quality, increased employee productivity, reduced travel costs to the employee, reduced space costs for the state, and expanded opportunity for geographically and otherwise diverse Utahns.

Agencies were in the midst of a staggered rollout of the full remote work program when the pandemic began. Many state agencies quickly transitioned to new ways of doing business without disruptions to customer service.

“Much of the work we do today is no longer bound to a specific location or schedule. In fact, the work we do today benefits from and permits more flexibility than ever before,” GOPB Executive Director Sophia DiCaro shared.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 8,600 employees participated in remote work. This guidance sets an ambitious target for agencies to finalize long-term remote work agreements with 50 percent of remote work eligible employees by September 1, 2021.

“We led the way on this innovation together—and it worked,” Gov. Spencer Cox writes in an introductory letter. “Thank you for your efforts to support employees, improve services for customers, and increase the efficiency of the work you do. To achieve our One Utah dream, we’re going to need to keep innovating.”

Click here to read the State of Utah Remote Work Guide.